Full disclosure, I already read and liked this book months ago, but the audiobook fully made me love it. Apparently I am such a sucker for an angsty slow burn romance; especially when the narrators fully commit to their performances and bring the characters to life with quite affecting raw emotion.

There's a common plotline in a number of MM sports romances where everything is going fine with a secret relationship until one of them gets injured during a game (or, in this case, a race). Typically, this happens about 75% of the way through a book, but Crash Test smartly opens with this scenario.

F1 driver Travis has the championship in his sights when news comes through that there's been a major crash in an F2 race involving his secret boyfriend of the past year, Jacob. The narrative then follows the fallout of this accident and how it impacts both of their racing careers and their chance at a future together. In short, I read this whole book in a day while traveling and cried a lot in public. It's not a perfect story (simply put, not enough groveling), but its narrative structure felt fresh, and I loved the way things unfolded through flashbacks and switching POVs.

Crash Test immediately starts out with emotional tension and action. F1 star Travis' secret boyfriend Jacob is in a terrible crash, and then the POV alternates between present day and the past as we learn how they got together and how their relationship developed. It then turns into a kind of second chance romance. I've never read a book written in this style, and I liked it!

I feel like it's definitely easy to follow even if you know nothing about F1. I don't know if the author has experience in healthcare or a loved one in ICU but as someone who does, I really appreciated the accuracy there!

The characters felt so realistic. Travis was immediately likable while Jacob was (to quote him) "a dick." They both had really great character development, and represented very different experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Travis is a kind of reclusive introvert, with no family or friends, and Jacob has internalized homophobia, commitment issues, and a very brash and unaccepting family. The mental health rep and found family were great additions to the story as well. The ending was a bit quick and tidy, I'd have liked less time apart and more time spent on their repair, but overall I ate this one up and really enjoyed it!

The audio: WOW - incredible! Duet narration is my absolute favorite, and the style that this was written allowed the narration to really shine. Both narrators fit the characters so well, and the narrator for Travis nailed the emotions.

Book: 4..25/5
Audiobook: 5/5

4/5 ⭐️
2/5 🌶️
5/5 🎧


Thank you to harperaudio and NetGalley for this ALC of this book!

Audiobook review - the audiobook performance was top notch! This duet narration really set the tone and elevated the entire story!

This was my first time reading a formula 1 romance! It was fun seeing a romance diving into another sport / entertainment industry than I’m used to. This story immediately sucked me in with the crash that puts Jacob in critical condition.

The first half of the book is really the aftermath of Jacob’s crash while simultaneously having flashbacks of how Jacob’s and Travis’s romance began over the last year. Jacob’s family discovers Jacob and Travis are romantically involved as Jacob wakes in the hotel room. After Jacob woke from his coma he ultimately could not handle the pressure of being an openly bisexual man to the public and breaks Travis’s heart.

The second half of the book is all about Travis and Jacob starting over alone and finding themselves. When Jacob finally realizes he really loves Travis and is ready to risk it all he goes after him. I don’t love the fact that Travis immediately took him back after breaking his heart. Without question or explanation he didn’t hesitate to accept him back in his life.

Overall this was a really sweet read! It started off high intensity and then really was slower paced toward the end.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!

I really really wanted to love Crash Test by Amy James, I mean?! The cover?! Hello?? The synopsis called this Formula 1 meets Red, White, & Royal Blue but failed to mention that F1 wouldn’t really be mentioned outside of acknowledging that it was the two MMCs jobs and it lacked all of the charm, tension, and heart Red, White, & Royal Blue had. Womp womp.

The opening of this book was promising. We got to feel Travis’ grief and worry about his secret boyfriend! And then after the buildup of not knowing if he was okay, he finally wakes up and immediately breaks up with him for???? No reason??? Okay! Cool!! Love that!! 😒 Then we get to see Travis be miserable for a bit while Jacob is also miserable and living with his homophobic parents in the US until Jacob is cleared to return to racing and then finally decides he should go to therapy. He’s then turned down by every team and instead of going to business school or whatever decides he should instead fly halfway across the globe to show up at Travis’ house unannounced to try to get back with him. He sees Travis on a date with another man and is DEVASTATED (??? In what world do you get to be devastated after breaking up with your boyfriend without warning or explanation and then blocking him and changing your number ALMOST A YEAR AGO????). All of this nonsense is playing out on a dual timeline that also shows Jacob being a shit boyfriend/non boyfriend/situationship with Travis leading up to his accident. Anyway, then Jacob gets signed by an F1 team (his last chance!!!) and finally gets to see Travis face to face where he’s like “lol sowwy! Let’s get back together? 🥺” and Travis is like “immediately yes” and goes down on him. TRAVIS WTF??? And then basically all their problems disappear and they dance off into the sunset THE END.

So yeah this book was cheeks and I’m actually upset I didn’t DNF it like I knew I should. The characters were hollow and unlikable, we were TOLD Travis loved Jacob but never shown, and the pacing was sort of all over the place. I really loved the idea of this book, but the execution was truly not good.

2⭐️

I want to give this book all of the stars! I cannot stop thinking about Crash Test. This book is single-handedly responsible for me entering my F1 romance era, but no other book I've read so far in the genre has come even close to this one. I've now read it twice: first the ebook and now the audiobook. Both times, I was completely enraptured by Travis and Jacob's story. I couldn't put it down and read it in one sitting, cutting into my hours of sleep to keep reading/listening. The Travis narrator knocked it out of the park and the Jacob narrator was great as well.

I'd be remiss not to mention that although the angst is angsty, their happy ever after feels so well deserved and the characters' growth is really amazing. Like they needed that time apart to better come back to one another as a best version of themselves.

This was a gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, powerful story of a second chance romance and has stayed with me long after I've finished it. And everyone who's had the chance to read and ARC or ALC has been just as obsessed with it as I am! Really incredible and well crafted storytelling and I absolutely adore Amy James' writing style. I will read anything she publishes!

Crash test by Amy James
ARC from Harper audio
Release: July 1st 2025
-this audiobook was wow
-the voice changes, accents and intonations are too good
-you get right into the action wanting to know what’s going on, my heart beating and I just started the book
-they are literally standing next to each other in interviews and you feel the tensionnnn
-Travis gives grumpy, keeps to himself but Jacob brings the sun out of him
-Jacob give sunshiny uppity guy
-the back and forth story line has me intrigued and nervous
-so many moments that were so heartbreaking omg my poor heart I just can’t their moments and exchanges make love worth fighting for
-Jacob’s parents can catch these hands
-I relate so much with Travis because I’m pretty to myself, different, overthinker, social anxious and have never seriously dated anyone so my heart truly felt tied to him my Sheila 🥹😭♥️
-I love how Jacob pushes Travis outside of his comfort zone and I love just the way they are I’m obsessed with this 🥰
-I love the growth and self discovery of Travis I feel so proud of him I feel like I’m his bestie rooting for him
-Jacob has been through so much my baby 😭 his recovery was truly heartbreakingly healing if that even makes sense 😭 his pov made me realize truly we all have different ways of thinking and don’t all see things as deeply, but also how beautifully intricate the mind is, his self discovery journey is truly beautiful
-i love Jacob and Travis so much
-the therapy rep in here is so beautiful done 👏🏾
-I need this book to be a movie
:) iykyk
-this book was my kryptonite too good 😩
rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Harper Audio and Netgalley for the Advance Listener Copy. Here is my honest review.

This book came out of nowhere and floored me. It's not often a book effects me the way this one did. I absolutely loved this story and I think if I had read the book, it would just be 4.5 stars. But the audiobook elevated the book in such a profound way that this is hands down a five star listen.

Amy James has created a story that feels more like two people sharing their story than two characters. Travis and Jacob are emotionally raw throughout and this makes the entire experience feel more genuine and true. Not only that, but James invites us to see just how flawed both Travis and Jacob are.

This story also explores internalized biphobia and as a bi person myself, I think this is an important conversation to be had. Jacob is struggling with a LOT in his chapters. His life has been planned and he is influenced by his family even if he wasn't aware it was happening until after his accident. In some of his vulnerable moments, I saw myself reflected back. The third born in a religious family. Identifying as bi/queer but unwilling to upset the status quo to speak our truths. And understanding where our anger stems from, and finding healthier ways of dealing with it and reframing how we look at our lives.

Both Travis and Jacob have a lot of growing to do throughout the book, each in very different ways. I think people will probably have an easier time with Travis' journey because it's a quiet growth that happens with expansion of his inner life. Jacob's growth is messy, it's rough, it doesn't feel good. But that's why it's so much more powerful when he comes out on the other side.

I highly recommend this audiobook.

I’m newer to the F1 romances, and I’m a huge fan!

This book follows the secret relationship of two drivers. A terrible crash leaves Jacob in the hospital and them both questioning everything! Both characters are lovable in their own ways. Their friends are a great addition to the story.

This book was almost a DNF for me. I love when a narrator really gets into character. It was off putting, however, when our introduction to the characters is in a tumultuous situation. I think the book would’ve been better chronologically instead of through flashbacks. But it does end up being chronological about half way through, and I loved the rest of the story!

2 stars: ★★☆☆☆
Huge thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for inviting me to read the eARC and to HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio for the ALC via NetGalley 💌

IDK wtf that was but it sure wasn’t romance. I was this close to DNFing, but I betrayed my soul and gave it two stars instead of one. Not one redeeming quality. Not the characters, not the pacing, not the structure. And especially not the way the story was told. This was painfully mid-tier, and that’s me being generous.

✨ Premise? 10/10. Execution? Fell off a cliff faster than Jacob’s F2 car.

The idea was chef’s kiss—F1 drama, queer romance, heartbreak, high stakes. But somehow, this book managed to feel emotionally hollow despite its tragic setup. Like, how do you write a secret relationship between two men in elite motorsport, have one of them in a coma, and still make me feel nothing?

The first third is just Travis sulking in his feelings, and even that felt shallow. It was giving "summarized heartbreak" instead of showing us actual connection or chemistry. Travis keeps saying he loves Jacob but never shows us why. And Jacob? Bro, that man spent the first 50% unconscious and the rest acting like Travis personally ruined his life.

💥 Structure: A Mess in 3 Acts (Literally)
The book is split into three "sectors" (Formula 1 pun, cute... in theory). First sector? All Travis. Second? All Jacob. Third? Floppy ping-ponging that couldn’t decide whose head it wanted to be inside. And don’t get me started on the transitions—absolutely no flow, no rhythm. The POV switches in the final part felt like whiplash.

Also, can we talk about how everything was told in past tense reflections??? The tension? Gone. The chemistry? Skipped. The vibes? Deceased.

🚩 Jacob: The walking red flag.
I wanted to like him, I really did. But his whole arc was like a passive-aggressive apology note that never actually says "I’m sorry." He ghosted Travis, let his parents treat him like dirt, and came back like “my bad, babe” and expected applause. Travis deserved better. (Though lowkey, Travis didn’t even fight for himself so... maybe they were meant to be, in a sad, low-standards way.)

The emotional payoff? Wasn't paying.
They reunited after a year of silence and trauma, and within 5 minutes they were basically like “lol, wanna kiss?” LIKE BE SERIOUS.

⚠️ RWRB comparison? False advertising.
There were no royal vibes, no witty banter, no slow-burn enemies-to-lovers tension. Just a deeply avoidant couple who fell apart off-page and decided to try again... also mostly off-page. The comparison was pure clickbait, and I fell for it like a clown 🤡

Tropes:
🏁 Secret Relationship / Closeted Romance
🥀 Second Chance Romance
🏁 Sports Romance
🥀 Injured Love Interest (Coma Plot)
🏁 Queer Romance (MM)
🥀 Famous/High-profile Characters
🏁 Angst
🥀 Miscommunication / Lack of Communication
🏁 Hospital Setting

🎧 A quick audio note: the narration? Fine. The material? Not it. I appreciate the effort the narrators put in, but even they couldn’t save this lukewarm story.

⭐ Highlights (aka the few things that didn’t make me want to throw my phone):
✧ The F1 backdrop, though barely explored, was cool in theory.
✧ The first hospital scenes had some actual weight to them.
✧ The idea of showing how closeted athletes suffer in silence? Important. But it deserved better execution.

📝 Final thoughts:
This felt like the ghost of a good story—an outline that never got fleshed out. The bones were there, but the soul was missing. If you're looking for queer romance with actual chemistry, or sports drama that doesn’t rely on trauma dumping and unresolved tension, this ain’t it.

Would I recommend? No.
Would I reread? Hell no.
Do I regret it? Yes. But at least the cover’s pretty.

I loved this book and the level emotion it evoked was seriously impressive. There was some serious emotional damage at one point. I also adored Travis, he has my heart completely!

Honestly, if it weren’t for some (what I believe to be) unnecessary obstacles and detours that prolonged their reunion and started to grate a bit, this would have been a 5-star read for me. I wouldn’t say that there was any one obstacle that was the issue, but I think that the accumulation just started to be a bit much.

Shout out to the audiobook narrators that did an awesome job of conveying that level of emotion for the listeners!

I cried so hard during this reading experience. It was just so cute but also tragic. The rediscovery of their relationship was cute though.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️.5

I did an immersion read for this book. I listened to the audio and read the physical at the same time.

First would like to mention that I thought the audio was phenomenal. I really enjoyed the narrator who narrates Travis’s parts. His emotion is so transparent and beautiful in the very heartbreaking parts. I think the audio was so good. It made me enjoy the book a lot more.

As far as the story goes, I thought this was a beautiful MM romance! I’m not really familiar with the Formula One world, but I enjoyed the little bits that we got in this book! I also love that one of the male main characters was the complete polar opposite of the other and that everything was all firsts and new.

I love how the book starts off at a very dramatic moment and then we get flashbacks to see how the relationship started and progressed throughout, finally bringing us to the present time and continues on.

I read this book in about six hours so I would say that it was very fast paced!


The found family in here was so well written. I really enjoyed all the side characters. I thought that the relationship between one of the mothers of the drivers that was in the accident and Travis was very beautiful.

I would love to read more from this author, especially if she were to write any other MM romances.

Heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time and immediately recommended it to my brother. I loved how we got the first part in Travis’ pov, second part in Jacob and the third in both. I do wish it was a bit more obvious when Travis going into a flashback of his relationship but that could’ve been overlooked in the audio and different in the actual ebook. My heart broke for Travis so many times and then learning why Jacob was the way he is? Hurt so much

First, I think Red White and Royal Blue meets F1 is highly inaccurate. This felt more like Thrown Off the Ice meets F1, but there’s a HEA.
Second, I have mixed feelings on how I feel about this book. I cried for an hour straight because I felt so deeply for the characters, but I also don’t think I truly liked the main characters that much. (Side characters in this were great!) Jacob was an a**hole- yes, he does get a redemption arc, but I’m not 100% sold that he tried hard enough to show Travis he loved him. And Travis was kind of boring and had no development. Even with that, I still liked it overall?! See, mixed feelings.

Overall, it was good and I would recommend it. Just know- a lot of it is sad! I had no idea so much of this book was going to be sad and wish I would have had this warning.

This book was low spice but high chemistry and the emotions this author was able to envoke were everything. Some books you read and feel through your whole body and some are just fabulous reads that you appreciate. This book was most definitely the 1st experinece for me.

The narrators pulled me in immediately and the duet narration gave this book such depth. The prologue had me in tears and I'm not sure that would have happened without the work of the these narrators. They gave voice to different side characters and there was beautiful french accents and I can't say how much I appreciated the scope of these narrators voice acting. This story was brought to life through them and it was just stunning. I also really appreciated that the narrators chosen had enough tonal difference that it was easy to determine who was who especially without doing an immersive read by reading along with the book at the same time.

Knowing friends in the racing world I so appreciated the realistic nature of this story too. The accidents, how the media handled it, all of it. The found family in this book was top notch and if you do not fall in love with sweet broken Travis I feel you yourself may be broken. This book has flawed characters who grow and mature and but are also lost and through the help of friendship find a way to make what was broken even better than before.

I knew from the very beginning that this book would not only take me on an emotional roller-coaster, but it would *hurt,* and, oohhhhh, how it did, but I absolutely loved it.

I really enjoyed how the timeline was written. This book follows Travis (an F1 driver) and Jacob (an F2 driver). It opens with a current-day tragedy, with flash backs to provide context on their relationship and how it grew over the course of a year. It kept me completely invested in their story, and I didn't want to stop listening. And just when you think things will get better? NOPE! More heartbreak. I just wanted to give Travis the biggest hug ❤️‍🩹
I can see some people not loving Jacob's actions, but there's so much going on under the surface that he's dealing with, and he has a LOT of growing and self-discovery that needed to happen. I would've liked a *little* more groveling from Jacob at the end because Travis definitely deserved it after everything, but I think seeing Jacob's character arc was worth the pain.

I listened to the audiobook which was done in duet style, narrated by Gary Furlong and Patrick Zeller. They both did an exceptional job! There were quite a few different accents throughout, and each one was done really well. You could ✨️feel✨️ all the emotion... the pain, the sadness, the longing... and it really made me feel like I was experiencing the story right along with the characters.
I highly recommend listening to the audiobook!

Pub Date Jul 01 2025 

Thank you, HarperAudio Adult | HarperAudio, via NetGalley for the ALC

I loved the way this story was told mainly from one point of view then the other. It created the suspense of not really knowing what the other main character was thinking and added tension to the story. There was a point when I was really worried there wasn’t going to be an HEA. In the end it was a great romance that was very well written.
The narrators were great. I felt like they were the characters and the emotion they brought through nearly had in me in tears. It was perfectly done.

This book is a romance between Formula 1 racer Travis and Formula 2 racer Jacob. Although 24 years old, Travis, a racing star, hasn't even so much as had his first kiss. Jacob is bisexual and has not come out yet. They go out for a year on the sly and Jacob is involved in a bad accident. Things are about to change.

I really thought this was a great audiobook. The narrator did a great job. 5 stars

Many thanks to Net Galley and HarperAudio Adult for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5 🌟
Spice: Open door
Format: ALC

Oh man, this was heartbreaking yet beautiful. F1 romance is quickly becoming a favorite and this one is at the top of my list right now. The audio is fantastic. Duet narration, dual pov (second doesn't come in until later in the book), a bit of dual timeline. Listen this book is pretty sad for the majority of it. I feel for both of these guys and their situation. I was so proud of Jacob for getting therapy and finally standing up to his parents. It's labeled as an F1 version of RW&RB and I can definitely see that! Will definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the alc in exchange for an honest review.

Actual text to book bestie “Yet again, excited to be emotionally devastated under your influence”

This book starts off following F1 driver Travis through two timelines: the present where his closeted boyfriend, Jacob, is in a horrific accident and the past of their meeting and falling in love. Right away, I don’t think there was a single present chapter that I did not cry. My sinuses were not ready for this level of tears. Then around half way, the POV switches up to Jacob and I was screaming, crying, throwing up.

Absolutely obsessed with the found family here, Travis is a weird robot learning to love and be loved. And Jacob learns the hard way that blood does not equal family.

I would have gladly read 200 more pages, this book exemplifies keep it short and keep ‘em wanting more.

The narrators are so good you feel like this was a full cast production. Seriously amazing!!!

Thank you Net Galley Avon and Harper Voyager for the chance to read this ARC, probably one of my top 5 reads this year!